Give Me Your Heart

“Do you really have nowhere better to be on your day off?” Riley quipped as she padded into her living room, her eyes settling on Gerard who sat on the couch, flicking through a newspaper which had been left on the side. It had been a few hours, after their appointment with Alison, Gerard had been insistent on taking Riley home, and since they’d arrived, she’d not been able to convince him to leave, something which made her smile a little.

She had been expecting that it would be odd, after their break up, she had expected that spending time together would feel forced or awkward, but she liked that it didn’t. She liked that they were getting on better than they had been when she had first explained that she was expecting.

Gerard, who’d been reading the report of Barcelona’s last match, sat up a little, offering her a shake of the head which made her laugh a little. “You know the baby’s not due for another 5 months, don’t you?” she teased as she padded towards him, shifting his feet in order to make a little space for her beside him.

“I do know that” Gerard quipped “I’ve got their due date written on my calendar, but I also know that there are a lot of decisions to make before they come along and that you and I are going to see a lot of one another in the next few months. I am merely trying to help you get used to it” he mused with a grin as he sat up a little, making slightly more room for her on the couch.

Riley rolled her eyes a little, mumbling something about him being a little strange before she rested her head back, closing her eyes for a few seconds. “Did you want to talk about anything in particular?” she posed after a second of quiet, a small yawn falling out of her mouth.

Gerard thought for a moment before he nodded. “Where do you plan on living?” he posed gently.

“Living?” Riley quipped “There’s something wrong with here?” she added, gesturing around the apartment slightly.

Gerard shook his head. “There’s nothing wrong with here” he noted gently “But it is only a 2 bedroom place and I don’t see Cassidy going anywhere anytime soon. There’s not a lot of space for you, Cass and bump” he explained gently. He had given a lot of thought to things, with Riley’s bump growing more and more, he knew that they’d have to start making concrete plans sooner rather than later, and he wanted to ensure that things were settled before Riley was too pregnant. He didn’t want her to get too stressed out too close to her due date.

Riley furrowed her brow. “You have something else in mind?” she posed gently.

Gerard offered her a grin. “I am sure that we can find you somewhere, Riley” he insisted “Besides, if worst comes to worst, you can always stay with me” he added with a little shrug.

Riley snorted a little, something which caused Gerard to quirk an eyebrow. “Would that be that bad?” he posed.

“It didn’t exactly end well for us the first time” Riley noted gently “And that’s without mentioning Alexa who I imagine would be more than a little irked that her boyfriend was moving his ex-girlfriend in with him” she added, her nose wrinkling a little at the mention of Alexa’s name.

Gerard tilted his head a little, not missing the frown on her face. It wasn’t the first time he’d seen it, whenever Riley mentioned Alexa, she looked a little pained, but still it confused Gerard a little. He didn’t like the idea that there was something that was upsetting her. “Riley?” he noted gently.

Riley shook her head. “I don’t want to talk about it, Gerard” she murmured softly, her hands nervously fiddling in her lap.

Gerard sighed a little and pushed his hand through his hair. “I am sorry, Riley” he murmured.

Riley shook her head. “You don’t have to apologize. We broke up and you’re more than entitled to move on, it just seems so fast” she mumbled, refraining from asking just how long he had waited between the end of their relationship and the start of his and Alexa’s. She had little doubt that the answer would only serve to make her feel worse about it.

“It is fast” Gerard agreed, pushing a hand over his face.

“I just want you to be careful” Riley mumbled softly after a second of quiet.

“Careful?” Gerard posed.

“We both know that the reason things didn’t quite work for us was that we moved too quickly” Riley noted, not looking up at him “And I would hate to see you get hurt again. Please, Gerard, be careful” she insisted quietly.

Gerard frowned to himself for a moment before he let out a small sigh, knowing that Riley had a point. “I’ll be careful, Riley” he noted gently.

Riley nodded her head softly before she pushed herself up, mumbling something about needing to get some work done.

Gerard watched her for a second before he stretched his hand out, wrapping it around her wrist before he turned her back to face him. “I know you don’t want to hear it, Riley” he murmured “But I am sorry that things didn’t work for us, you know that, right?” he posed, tugging her a little to him.

Riley shook her head. “It’s not your fault” she noted gently, her blue eyes fixed on her feet “We both messed up” she added gently.

Gerard watched her for a moment, not missing the little frown she wore on her face, before he carefully placed his hands on her cheeks, tilting her head up slightly so that their eyes met. Riley blinked a little, something which made Gerard quirk a smile before he carefully leant towards her, preparing to press a kiss to her lips. Riley stared up at him for a moment, not quite sure of how to react before the sound of the front door caught her attention, causing her to turn away from Gerard who pressed the kiss against her cheek as Cassidy’s voice called out from the hall.

“You…you ought to…” Riley babbled as she pulled herself away from him.

Gerard blinked a couple of times before he cleared his throat, nodding. “I should. I’ll see you in a few weeks for the 20 week scan?” he babbled, his cheeks tinting a little pink.

Riley nodded her head, but didn’t look up at him, something which made him frown a little, knowing that he had only served to make things worse once more.